55. Bxf5! exf5 56. Kxf5 Kf7 57. g4 Nb8 58. f3!! (58. f4? Na6! draws) Na6 59. f4 Nb8 60. g5 fg 61. fg hg 62. Kxg5 Kg7 63. Kf5 Kh6 64. Ke6 Kxh5 65. Kd6 Na6 66. Kc6 Kg6 67. Kb6 Nb8 68. Kxc5 Kf7 69. Kd6! (69. Kb6? Ke7 draws) Ke8 70. c5 and wins.

55 Bxf5, OK easy enough. I would have been entirely happy with that if I'd been sure B would NOT play exf5. I really had a problem with getting the winning continuation after 55 .... exf5, and I certainly woul not have played it OTB. To be honest I thought B could draw by shuffling the N between b8 and a6, hadnt realised how that little play <f3> would make all the difference. And the worst part was that only yesterday there was all this discussion about opposition. But I didnt take the hint :(

Well done to the many kibitzers for seeing the win, more exactly seeing that the winning line was .... the winning line. And excellent analysis by <OBIT>

Analysis by Rybka 3 1-cpu: time 60min: depth 24:

1. (4.85): 55...Kd6 56.Be4[] Nb8 57.Bg6[] Ke7 58.g4 Kd6 59.Bf7

2. (4.85): 55...Nb8 56.Bh7[] Kd6 57.g4 Nc6 58.Bg8 Nb8 59.Ke4

3. (4.85): 55...Kf7 56.Bg6+ Ke7 57.Be4 Nb8 58.Bh7 Kd6 59.g4 Nc6 60.Bg8 Nb8 61.Ke4

4. (4.85): 55...Kd7 56.g4[] Nb8 57.Bg6[] Kd6 58.Bf7

5. (5.12): 55...exf5 56.Kxf5[]

2)The removal of isolated h6 pawn is diastrous to Black game bec it would give White two outside passed pawns. Unfortunately, white king cannot find inroad to this weak pawn at the moment.

3)White wants to remove the c5 pawn to create connected queenside passers

Candidate: Bxf5

a) 1 exf5 2 Kxf5 Nb8 ( black king can`t move without allowing white king to either penetrate to the kingside or queenside) (Black also cannot leave the Nc6-Nb8-Na6 triangle; 2 Nd4+ 3 Ke4 Nc6 4 Kd5 Nb8 5 Kxc5 )

Now the moment of truth: whelther to play 3 f3 or f4. ( if 3 f3 Na6 4 f4 Nb8 5 g4 Na6 6 g5 fxg5 7 fxg5 hxg5 8 Kxg5 Kg7 9 Kf5 Kh6 10 Ke6 Kxh5 11 Kd6 Kg6 12 Kc6 Kf6 13 Kb6 Nb8 14 Kxc5 Ke7 15 Kb6 Kd7 16 c5 Nc6=)

so: 3 f4 Na6 4 g4 Nb8 5 g5 fxg5 6 fxg5 hxg5 7 Kxg5 Kg7 ( 7 Na6 tranposes) 8 Kf5 Kh6 9 Ke5 Kxh5 10 Kd5 Na6 (if 10 Kg6 11 Kxc5 Kf7 12 Kd6! Ke8 13 c5 Kd8 14 c6 ) 11 Kc6 Kg6 12 Kb6 Nb8 13 Kxc5 Kf7 14 Kd6! tranpose to the above.

There is two type of common kibitzers: a) the calculating machine and b) the long term strategist.

1) Type A will just look for any excuse to calculate. When by chance they stumble on the right move to calculate, they will usually solve the position after carefully looking at the consequence. However, the weakness of this style is very often with just blind calculation they won`t find the right move.

Suggestion: Try to understand the position and figure out some sort of plan before you calculate. Playing this way you will save lots of valuable time from thinking too much on the wrong move. Like a doctor, first you diagnose a patient and then you prescribe the right treatment. Reverse the order and it will be like calculation without a plan.

2) Type B is the exact opposite of type A and they will look for any excuse not to calculate. They tend to look at the big picture and ignore the minor details. Time and time again you will hear them moaning about " found the best plan but overlook a cheapo that ruined everything" or lame excuses like " the plan work but I screwed up the move order ". These excuses are like the clinche: " The operation is a success but the patient did not make it ".

Suggestion: Conceving a great plan completes only 20% of the equation and the other 80% is execution! Type B player should spend lots of time doing visualiztion training and tactical puzzles. Only through concrete analysis can your great plan come into fruition.

Gm have just the right mixture of both elements. They can look at the position concretely and at the same time conceptually. They know when to calculate and when not to calculate. They know most of the time how many moves they should look ahead in each particular position. Their great plans are often backed up by concrete analysis.

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Yes white has taken the c5 pawn but cannot connect the two passers. Neither can the white king eliminate the black knight.

c6 Nxc6, b8=Q Nxb8 draws.
Ka7 Nc6+, Ka8 Kxc5, b8=Q Nxb8 draws.
Kc7 Na6+, Kc8 Kxc5, b8=Q Nxb8 draws.
Kc7 Nc6, b8=Q Nxb8, Kxb8 Kxc5 draws.

There are more variations, but they are end in a draw.

Here the White king has finally abandoned the h5 file pawn.

Black to move.

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...Kxh5, kd6 kg4, kc6 kf5, kb6 Nb8 and we are back at the two position analyzed above as draws.

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However, this position is a win: Black to play

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That is why move 58 is the key to this puzzle. Should White play f4 or f3? I am the only kibitzer who realize the difference bet the two key pawn moves without looking at the solution or consulting the computer.